Most people think Africa is where PPPs go to die. They’re wrong. It’s where PPPs go to prove whether a government is serious. Senegal was. Early 2000s. Dakar traffic was a nightmare. Congestion so bad the city was losing productivity every hour. Everyone talked about “solutions”. Nobody wanted to pay. Then the government did something unusual for the region: They decided to treat risk like adults. Clear demand analysis. Transparent procurement. A concession contract with actual teeth. And a...
1 day ago • 1 min read
Mega-projects don’t just overrun. They overrun lives. Ask South Africa. Medupi and Kusile were supposed to be the big solution. Two giant coal plants. Massive capex. Enough power to stop load-shedding and unlock growth. On paper? Glorious. In reality? A masterclass in how to blow up trust. Design issues. Rework. Delays measured in years, not months. Costs ballooning into the tens of billions of rand. Every extra year of delay? More load-shedding. More diesel. More businesses dying quietly....
2 days ago • 2 min read
Most governments treat their main airport like a toy.A prestige project.A political trophy.A place to cut ribbons and hire cousins. The perfect picture for LinkedIn. Egos don't get a better chance to shine. Bogotá did that for years.And the result was the "before" picture. Congested terminal.Old infrastructure.Chaos on peak days.And zero money to fix it properly. Then in 2007 they did something different.They gave El Dorado to people who actually had skin in the game... Crazy! A...
3 days ago • 2 min read
Most PPP programs don’t get into trouble because of corruption.Or bad engineers.Or lazy civil servants. Or big-mouthful politicians. They fail because people think risk is a philosophy. Not a number. And this has been a constant in my last PPP project in NZ. Everyone talked about risk. This is too risky, they said... but without numbers. You see... we ended with the highway operator not changing barriers because it was too risky... Anyway... another country that learnt about risk the hard way...
4 days ago • 2 min read
Just in case you did not notice. There are just a few weeks left in 2025. What have you done to hit your goals this year? Better question: what are you doing today to finish strong? Most people go hard on goal-setting in January. They feel motivated for a few weeks, then watch themselves and their team drown in operations for the rest of the year. By March, those goals are buried. And this repeats over and over. You probably set ambitious yearly plans that died in Google Drive. By year-end,...
5 days ago • 1 min read
You feel it when the conversation comes up. Fear. Artificial intelligence. It’ll replace us. It’ll get us into trouble. We should be careful. I’m amused. Especially, when we enter into the combination of robotics and AI. That’s when things start coming interesting. Surgeons, replaced. All doctors, why not. Elon is very supportive of that. Consultants. Caregivers. And so on. Robots and AI will take all jobs. This time is different… Of course! Like the steam machine. Like the automobile. Like...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Last year, kindercare official picture, Christmas party with kids and family, strawberry picking, etc. This year, nothing. Last year, a competent person. This year, someone less so… or with less time… or with more excuses. No matter your contract. Your organization chart. Your incentives. Your whatever. People continue to be the key for success. Still companies squeeze to the bone salaries and benefits, and treat people like commodities… And honestly, they are not. At least, not yet… who...
7 days ago • 1 min read
I signed the contract on Monday. On Wednesday, I received a welcome email – I’m your personal property manager. Next day – Mail. We are talking care of connecting utilities. Later mail: Done! Next day – Mail: We are ordering the mattresses and the repairs as discussed during our meeting on the apartments. Early following week – Mail: We have listed the apartments. End of the week – Mail: We have conducted visits and we have received applications. We are doing our checks and will let you know...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Just yesterday, I had an interesting call. “What should I do if these guys are “locos”? Translated: What to do with a client that it’s not engaging? That’s a hard one. Let’s get more information: “Are they experienced?” “No” “Are they empowered?” “No” “Have they been instructed to give you nuts?” “Maybe” “Warm… Have you asked why **** is so important for them?” “No” “Warmer… Have you had recently a coffee or conversation with their bosses?” “No” “Ummm… let’s prepare an action plan” You can...
9 days ago • 1 min read